Foreign Direct Investment Reporting Standard in Q1 at $5.45 Billion... Largest Q1 Ever

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the first quarter of this year recorded the highest amount ever for a first quarter.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 7th in the '1st Quarter FDI Trends' that FDI reached $5.45 billion based on reported amounts, a 14.9% increase compared to the same period last year, marking the highest ever for a first quarter.

FDI based on actual arrivals was $4.33 billion, the second highest ever following $4.45 billion in the first quarter of last year. However, this represents a 2.6% decrease compared to the same period last year. The number of cases increased by 28.9% to 830 based on reported amounts, and by 16.1% to 663 based on arrivals.

By industry, manufacturing reported $1.64 billion, a sharp increase of 267% compared to last year. Manufacturing accounted for 30% of total FDI.

Within manufacturing, investments surged significantly in sectors such as food (594.1%), machinery and medical precision equipment (487.0%), transportation machinery (98.1%), and semiconductors (370.7%).

On the other hand, investment inflows decreased in non-metallic minerals (-78.1%) and paper and wood (-100.0%).

Service industry reported $3.77 billion, a 9.4% decrease. The Ministry analyzed this as a base effect caused by a large-scale investment of $2.1 billion in the first quarter of last year.

Other industries, including primary industries such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries, mining, and construction of electricity, gas, and water, reported $43 million, a 69.1% decrease.

By country, the United States reported $870 million, a 284.7% increase compared to the same period last year, and the Chinese-speaking regions reported $1.19 billion, a 39.0% increase. Japan's reported amount ($480 million) also increased by 94.6%.

The European Union (EU) saw an 81.3% decrease in reported amounts due to a base effect from large-scale investments in the first quarter of last year. Looking at reported amounts by funding type, new investments and additional investments increased by 42.2% and 7.5%, respectively, while long-term loans decreased by 3.8%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.